Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of the conglomerate Reliance Industries, reported results for the March quarter that were in line with certain brokerages’ projections, with revenue rising by 11% and net profit by 13% over the same period in the previous fiscal year.
Sequentially, revenues increased 2.3% to ₹25,959 crore, and net profit increased 2.5% to ₹5,337 crore from Q3FY24. The business released its results on Monday after market hours.
Brokerages like BofA Securities projected a 0-3% growth in revenue, while Morgan Stanley predicted a 1.7% sequential gain in net profit. Additionally, the former projected flat annual growth in EBITDA (profits before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). But Jio’s Ebitda increased by 11.5% to ₹13,612 crore from ₹12,210 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.
The carrier made a second announcement announcing the resignation of Sanjay Mashruwala, one of its two managing directors. Mashruwala, 76, was close to Reliance’s founder Dhirubhai Ambani and is among the company’s longest-serving executives. Even before Reliance Jio made its official commercial debut in the Indian telecom industry in 2016, he served as the company’s MD since 2013.
The telecom carrier’s average revenue per user (APRU) was constant at ₹181.7 during the course of the study, while an increase in promotional 5G traffic—which is currently provided to subscribers without charge and at no additional cost—partially offset the improved subscriber mix.
Over the course of the quarter, the largest telco in India attracted 10.9 million new customers, bringing its total subscriber base to 481.8 million. In contrast, as of December 2023, Bharti Airtel had 377.5 million subscribers (March data have not been released yet).
“Accelerated subscriber base growth, facilitated by both mobile and fixed wireless services, has improved the performance of the digital services industry. “Jio genuinely leads the 5G transformation in India with over 108 million True 5G customers,” remarked Reliance Industries Limited chairman and managing director Mukesh D. Ambani.
5G broadband service over the air There are 5,900 cities and towns where Jio AirFiber services are available, and more will soon be added to provide coverage throughout India. According to the telco, JioFiber customers use 30% less data per day on average than AirFiber customers, who use 13 GB on average per day. The telecom company’s fixed wireless access solution, Jio AirFiber, offers broadband-like speeds without requiring fiber connectivity to individual homes. JioFiber is in charge of the latter.
According to Kiran Thomas, president of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. and chief executive officer of Jio Platforms, Jio has about 108 million 5G members, making it the second largest user base behind China. Jio launched its 5G network across India in less than a year.
Nearly 28% of its mobility data traffic is currently carried by the 5G network, he continued.
In Q4FY24, Jio’s financing expenses were ₹1,018 crore as opposed to ₹1,028 crore in the December quarter, a sequential decrease. In comparison to the same quarter in the previous fiscal year, overall data and voice traffic increased by 35.2% and 9.7%, respectively, to 40.9 billion GB and 1.58 trillion minutes, indicating that customer engagement on the Jio network remained robust.
Thomas observed that, in addition to rural areas, tier-III and tier-IV municipalities were experiencing a spike in Jio AirFiber demand. The service is currently offered in 6,000 municipalities, and demand from lower-class cities has increased as a result. The monthly data usage was getting close to 500 GB, he continued.
The telecom has designated some categories, including hotels, small businesses, schools, colleges, and hospitals, for which it will provide software solutions, including information management, surveillance, and entertainment solutions, both independently and in collaboration with other parties.
He stated, “Our home strategy will also see an accelerating momentum into the future as a result of this increased distribution and presence.”
